Find Out If Your Printer is Spying on You

[MADem]

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/35239

Did you know that many (in fact, most) color laser printers are spying on you whenever you print a document? Though you may not have heard the news, the discovery was announced in late 2005. Manufacturers embed a pattern of tiny yellow dots on printed pages. The dots are too small to be seen with the naked eye (especially since they're yellow, see the above photo to see what they actually look like), but under a microscope and blue light they're revealed. The dots are placed in a pattern unique to each printer, and since most color laser printers are purchased through well-documented service providers or direct from the manufacturer, it's simple to track any printed page back to the owner of the printer.

The original idea was obviously to help the government track down currency counterfeiters, since any phony money would be tagged with the yellow dots and would be easily trackable back to the source. But there are also signs of abuse, with the FBI reportedly using the technology to keep tabs on who's printing material for groups like the ACLU and Greenpeace. That's a little scary... and important to remember if you've considering printing a whistleblowing tip or any missive you'd prefer to leave anonymous on a color laser.

If the privacy ramifications of this news bother you, there's some good news. Not all printers have the tracking dots, and the EFF has compiled and updated its list of which ones do and which ones don't. Simply check out this page and look up your printer. (Remember, black and white lasers and inkjet printers don't include the dots.) As the document notes, remember that even if a printer doesn't include the dots, that doesn't mean it isn't using some other method to track your printed pages. If your printer isn't listed here, that means that no information is available about whether that printer includes the dots or not.

[hobbit709]

1. Rerun

[wtmusic]

2. Easy. Print on yellow paper. nt

[Tesha]

5. Won't work; toner is not paper and they *CAN* be distinguished.

A better method might be to print a substantial spattering
of yellow pixels on every page, but this would require some
technical knowledge of how the serial number is encoded on
the page to make sure you provided enough "noise" to fully
mask the "signal"; it'd probably take *A LOT* of yellow.

Tesha

[MADem]

9. I guess the only way around that would be to print a full yellow background!!

Of course, they'd probably notice a double dose of yellow where the dots were placed, back in the old Crime Lab...!!!

The baaaastids.....

[Tesha]

11. That would work; the xerographic engine wouldn't "double dose" the yellow.

It would, of course, be ugly as sin and have your
correspondents wondering if you had a touch of jaundice...

Tesha

[Vilis Veritas]

3. Great news.

Thanks...I am glad I kept my old black and white.

Samizdat...

Peace

[MannyGoldstein]

4. K&R: This Is Just Evil.

Exactly what The Founders wanted NOT to happen.

If we don't impeach soon, I shudder to think what might come.

[msongs]

6. gee, pay cash and dont give em yer name and address or register it nt

[MADem]

7. Yeah....but if you've printed anything else with it, they can compare

the documents.

Suppose you're a whistleblower who takes home a disk of White House emails, prints 'em out, and sends them to the NYT. The gubmint swoops in and grabs them, and then they start looking for the culprit. They go, person by person, looking for evidence, even going through your personnel file to look at your original resume you submitted when you were hired...and VOILA!!! There's that resume, with the yellow dots...and you're TOAST!!!!

In that case, paying cash wouldn't have helped you....

[SmokingJacket]

8. Print your manifesto at the public library! nt

[MadHound]

10. Same thing with color copiers also

Again, the reasoning is to deter counterfieters. A copier tech told me that these can be disabled on copiers, though I don't know how, or whether you can disable printers.